The Dahl Invasion
by Rayne L. Stryder
Summary: Two years after Handsome Jack is killed, the Hyperion Corporation is in major disarray. The killing of the tyrant Jack has awoken something within the Vault Hunters. New bonds are being formed as new heroes arise. The New-U stations are down and a new threat throws its shadow across the land. Will Pandora ever be free? New original characters. AxtonXMaya GaigeXOC
1. Prologue

First off, Gearbox and 2K studios own Borderlands and I have absolutely NO claim to the Borderlands title or characters. I just thought I would put my own twist on characters and events. I hope you enjoy it.

This is my first fan-fiction (go easy on me). I am using this as practice and to relieve the ideas that I have pinned up in my head. I did have some trouble with this prologue so it might be a little rough in some areas. So, with that being said, please review. If you have some constructive criticism I'd love to hear it. Also this will be rated M for language, violence and suggestive themes.

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**The Dahl Invasion**

_**Prologue**_

Peace, happiness, expansion and security-this is how Axton would describe Sanctuary today. Shortly after the death of Handsome Jack, the Hyperion corporation fell into ruin at the hands of the Crimson raiders. The Raiders expanded and soon gained control of all the Highlands and other regions; acquiring Opportunity and bringing in vast amounts of materials to build Sanctuary up to twice its original size. What was once a ragtag city of misfits and refugees, is now a beautiful city of towering interconnected structures full of families and businesses. The sheet metal and concrete buildings now stand replaced by glass, steel, and high-strength concrete. The city bears little resemblance to its old self and more towards a blend of Sanctuary and Opportunity.

Axton has a family now. Sanctuary is his permanent home; it's the longest he's ever stayed in one spot since leaving home at the age of sixteen, and he wouldn't have it any other way. The air smells sweet as he stands on the north perimeter wall overlooking the city. Things have been pretty quiet as of late. His shift is about to end, just as the long Pandoran day is coming to a close. "Just another dull day on Pandora," he says to himself.

Suddenly a scream rings out. It's a woman's scream and it's oddly familiar. Axton realizes something's not right. The woman screams again, more desperate this time. He scans down around the city, alarmed. No one else seems to have noticed; people continue to go about their business unfazed. Just as he is about to investigate, the distinct rumbling sound of ships engines reach his ears and distract him. Axton spins around to see a faint group of large ships off in the distance.

"What the hell..?" he says. Axton quickly gets on the ECHO net. "Headquarters, this is Axton. We have a large group of ships inbound. Are we expecting company?" There's no response. "HQ this is Axton, please respond."

The massive star ships are moving at an incredible speed, getting closer by the second. They come to a sudden stop just over the city, casting long shadows. Axton can see black and green coloring across their hulls with a logo in block lettering along the sides. "Is that,..? No, it can't be!" Star-fighters begin jettisoning from below the ships.

"HQ, we have fighters of an unknown origin flying over the city! Do you copy?" Static is the only response. Axton's heart rate increases. He knows what's about to happen; he's seen it before. Blood pounds in his ears as he races to collect his thoughts._ "This can't be happening. Not here. Not now!"_ Troop transports fly into the city un-hindered and begin to deploy soldiers onto the streets below. "Shit! HQ where the hell is our shield? I've got hostile forces dropping into the-"

Explosions rock the buildings around him as the enemy fighters launch volleys of missiles into the city. People in the streets scream and run for cover as glass and concrete rain down, and explosions rip up the streets. "No!" he yells desperately and looks around him. All of his men that were on the wall before are nowhere to be seen; there aren't even any friendly ships in Sanctuary's airspace. Quickly he runs inside a command post. He reaches a control console and yells into his ECHO.

"Get those AA turrets up and running! I need men with missile launchers up on the wall and soldiers in the streets. NOW!" Again, there's no reply as the commando frantically tries to interact with the console. It flashes red with damage reports but won't respond. "User not recognized," it says. His thoughts become more desperate. _"What the hell is this? Where is everyone!?"_

A smooth female voice speaks over the ECHO net. "Attention all personnel in the city. You are hereby authorized, under Reclamation Order 172005-3, to use any and all means necessary to evict these bandit squatters from the corporate mining ship Sanctuary. Good hunting." The transmission ends and he gives up on the console and runs outside._ "I have to do something!"_

Gunfire and cries of terror reach his ears and Axton's horrified by what he sees: blood running through corpse filled streets, debris strewn everywhere, and flames reaching out of jagged holes in the Raiders HQ. The once magnificent buildings of Sanctuary now lie in ruin. _"Why is this happening?"_ He sees a group of helpless civilians in the street being slaughtered by a squad of soldiers. The sight makes his blood boil and he rushes down to meet them, rifle at the ready.

"You sons-a-bitches!" Axton raises his rifle and unloads on them, each round finding its mark. But the soldiers continue on, unfazed. He reloads and fires round after round into their vital areas-the bullets just pass right through them. Not a single mark is made on their green and black fatigues. Unwavering, he throws a grenade and watches in disbelief and anger when it has no effect. _"Why can't I kill them!?" _

He's about to raise his rifle again when he notices something is different. A carbine with green and black camo rests in his hands with the same logo as the ships stamped onto it. His pants and jacket bear the same pattern and logo. His body goes numb as a sudden realization rocks him to his core._"I'm one of them?" _His hands tremble violently and his rifle drops as he collapses to his knees, burying his face in his hands. Destruction rains down around him filling the air with fire and screams that he'll never forget. "No, no, no, no!" the ground shakes violently and he falls to the ground.

There's grass underneath his back. He's in the Highlands. A deafening explosion rocks the earth as Sanctuary is engulfed in flames above him, falling out of the sky. _"How...How did all this happen? What did I do...to cause this? Is this punishment for what I've done?" _His questions go un-answered and time slows as the burning city looms closer and closer. Axton doesn't care. Every feeling is numb as his entire world is crumbling around him.

Memories flash before his eyes: dark brown hair, sapphire eyes and the sweet scent of perfume-his wife; hopes, dreams and plans for the future that will never be; his home and his family that are gone. Those memories fade now and are replaced by the massive structure that is right on top of him, about to crush him. His mind is enclosed in guilt.

"This is all my fault." His words are heavy with sorrow. "I led them here... I did this." Debris falls around him in a fiery rain. Everything he ever cared about is gone now- He is truly broken. _"There's only one thing left to do." _The broken man looks up, feeling the scorching heat on his face. He raises his arms and embraces his own destruction.


	2. Chapter 1: Bad Dreams

First off, Gearbox and 2K studios own Borderlands and I have absolutely NO claim to the title or the characters of Borderlands. I just thought I would put my own twist on characters and events. I hope you enjoy it.

Kind of a short chapter. I tried to get some explanations out of the way without it coming off as boring. There's some foreshadowing in this chapter, just like the prologue. Don't worry though, it picks up.

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**Chapter 1: Bad Dreams**

"NOOO!" Axton bolts upright in a cold sweat, gasping for air. The image of Sanctuary going down in flames still seared into his brain; he quickly checks himself over for burns or any sign of camouflage. Finding only gray shorts and a black undershirt he breathes a sigh of relief. _"What was that? It was so real." _His attention turns to his surroundings._ "Where am I?"_ The room is pitch black. His sheets are twisted around his legs, soaked with sweat. The alarm clock beside his bed tells him that he's only been asleep a few hours. His breath slowly returns to normal as he realizes it was all a dream.

Groggily, Axton gets up and stumbles over to the bathroom where he quickly flips the light switch on before dry heaving into the sink. He finishes, leaning against the sink on his hands and feeling mentally drained. The ghostly face in the mirror takes a second to recognize and he runs his fingers through dark brown hair that's longer than he remembers it being before. A short dark beard is stretched across his face from not having bothered to shave for the past few weeks. _"Another night, another nightmare" _he thinks. He splashes water on his face and comes eye to eye with himself in the mirror. Emerald eyes show pain, sorrow, and guilt- all brought back and revisited by the nightmare. Axton's fingers slowly reach above his left eye, where his rank insignia used to be, tracing the scars left behind after it was removed. The pale face in the mirror is slowly falling out of focus and, for a second, he sees his old soldierly self: Sergeants rank plates over his eye; face cleanly shaven; hair, neatly trimmed, high and tight. He's standing straight in the standard green and black camo fatigues, his hand raised to his forehead in salute.

The sound of running water brings him back into focus and he splashes more water onto his face, as if to wash away the past. Even though he's exhausted, he knows sleep won't come now. So he turns the faucet off before heading off to the kitchen for a drink. The cool water from the fridge helps take the edge off his pounding headache and he decides to step out onto the balcony.

Nights on Pandora are long, long and dark. Pandoran days are ninety hours long: which makes for roughly forty-five hours of daylight and nighttime. As Axton gazes up at the volcanic moon, he never thought he would ever get used to the strange schedule, but he did. Still, going to work and then getting back from work while it was still dark or daylight is unnerving. Time is slow on this planet. He looks upon Sanctuary and how much construction had been done- is still being done. Raiders HQ is now two stories taller with an improved barracks, armory, and mess hall. Now a veritable fortress; it even has its own AA turrets and a landing pad on the roof.

In only two years, Sanctuary has grown to be twice its original size and holds twice as many people. This wouldn't have been possible before but with Hyperion crumbling, the Crimson Raiders were able to bring in massive amounts of supplies and building materials from lightly guarded supply bases. The surge of ex-Hyperion personnel was even greater. They surrendered to the Raiders every chance they got; they had all been forcibly employed into the company, and worked under the threat of execution. At first, the Raiders didn't know what to do with all of them but In the end, Lilith decided that they could become citizens as long as they contributed a great deal to the resistance. The refugees agreed. They had all been inspired by the resistance put up by the rebels.

What came next was a colossal undertaking. Plans were immediately set out on how to upgrade Sanctuary: New buildings, better engines, better defenses and a perimeter wall around the city. Scooter and Gaige worked with ex-Hyperion engineers and found a way to help power the city with wind and solar energy. With all this came four new areas: a supply dock installed on the northwest side, a designated residential sector on the southeast side by Moxxi's Bar, a business sector on the northeast, and transportation on the southwest by Scooter's. To help with the surge of new citizens, a new town was built right under the city in the Highlands. It was named Haven, and was built like Sanctuary as a trade post and home to the new citizens. During this time the Vault hunters helped the Crimson Raiders take control of almost all of the Highlands, including Overlook and Opportunity. All of this had happened within the past two years, with more still to be done.

Axton finds it eerie how close the nightmare was in similarity to the present. It was almost like the dream was looking into the not-so-distant future. Simply thinking about the possibility makes him fearful. Especially about the involvement of a familiar entity.

"What does it all mean?" he quietly asks himself. He tries not to think of it, instead, gradually losing himself deep in other thoughts.

He stands on the balcony, enjoying the quiet of the night. It was a communal balcony about two stories up in the new residential district. Maya and Gaige share the apartment next to his. After what must have been close to an hour, a light breeze carried the faint scent of perfume his way. He turns and is surprised to see his friend Maya leaning against the wall, wearing a simple pair of black shorts and a gray tank top. She smiles and walks over to where he is leaning on the low balcony railing.

"Feeling lonely tonight?" she asks.

"No," he replies, "Just can't sleep."

She cocks her head at him thoughtfully, before mimicking his posture and looking out at the city. "Had another bad dream, huh?"

"Why would you say that?"

Maya glances at him. "You look like crap. That's why."

Axton chuckles and takes a drink from his water bottle. "Gee thanks. You know you don't look too snappy yourself, darlin'." She makes a pout face and punches him in the shoulder. "Ow!" He rubs his now sore shoulder. "You know you should be careful carrying those deadly weapons around, Maya, someone might get hurt," he jokes, pointing at her hands. In response, she put her hand on a hip and sticks her tongue out.

"So. How long had you been watching me?" he says, with a mischievous grin.

"Not long." Maya brushes some blue hair from her face. "I heard you yell and then walk out here. I figured I'd see what's up but decided you needed some time to think. Plus, Gaige keeps snoring, " she smirks.

Axton lets out a snort. "Really?" He raises an eyebrow. "I never figured our little anarchist would be one to snore."

"Oh yeah. She snores alright. I'm surprised you can't hear it through the wall." He just shakes his head. "By the way, don't let her hear you call her 'little'. Her metal arm can break concrete you know."

"Noted." He notices her eyes lock on his, as if trying to probe his hidden thoughts.

Often times Axton would catch himself wondering if he should try to take it further with Maya but the memories of his mistakes with his ex-wife and commander, Sarah, still haunt him. He still doesn't know if he can trust himself to not choose glory and pride over commitment.

Slowly, he breaks her gaze and says, "I doubt Gaige's snoring and my yelling is what woke you up though. I've seen how you sleep- like a rock."

"Just some bad dreams, like you," she says, offhandedly. Axton is about to press her, but she cuts him off. "Anyway's, I know this isn't the first time you've come out here, unable to sleep." Her smile is replaced by a look of concern. The siren has been one of his closest friends for the past couple of years. She knows when something is amiss with him, and he her.

Rubbing the back of his neck he says, "No, it isn't the first time. In fact, it's been happening a lot over the past few months."

Maya looks away. "I'm sorry," she says. "What have your dreams been about?"

"Usually the same thing, over and over again. Sometimes it changes but mostly they stay the same." In his head, Axton doesn't like where this conversation is headed.

"Oh. But you still haven't told me exactly what they're about, Axton."

"It's nothing, really. You wouldn't want to hear it."

"Please, I want to know."

He's a little taken aback by her forcefulness. "Trust me. It's nothing worth mentioning." He looks away from her gaze. A feeling of guilt comes over him for not trusting his friend.

"Axton," she says, putting her hand on his arm, "You're not alone. You don't have to keep all of this to yourself I-"

"Death," he interrupts. "Sanctuary's invaded and no one is left alive." Axton hangs his head and continues. "The whole city is in flames and it falls from the sky. The entire dream plays out like it will happen sometime in the future, and all of it is because of me. Because I lead the bastards here." He looks up at her, the pain evident in his eyes; a knot forming in his throat. They stay standing there looking at each other for a tense moment, not knowing what to say.

A single tear runs down Maya's face as she asks, "Who, Axton? Who comes here?"

"I think...I think it was the Dahl Corporation." Her hand drops from his arm and the look on her face says that he struck a chord, like she knows something. At the sight of her upset, he figures it best not to ask. He didn't think he'd ever seen her shed a single tear before. "They're my old employers. The ones who taught me the skills I have today." He barely keeps the frustration from his voice: just talking about it makes Axton tense. He doesn't want to weigh her down with this.

She quickly wipes the tear away and nods. "I remember. Why would they come here though? Didn't they abandon Pandora decades ago?" He can't help but feel that she's interrogating him.

"Yeah, they did. I remember learning about it. It was all very hush-hush. They got pushed out by the Atlas Corporation when news of the Vault reached them. I know that they had a mining operation going and they used prison labor. Then they abandoned the planet, stranding all the prisoners and families that had colonized the planet. It was called the worst defeat in Dahl's history." He breathes in the chill night air and tries to relax. "I call it cowardice."

"So that's why there are so many psychotic bandits. Because of all the prisoners."

"That's right. All the prisoners eventually broke loose and then the winter cycle ended and all the wildlife came out of hibernation. It was every man for himself."

She turns back, face serious. "Do you think that they'd actually come back here after all these years? I mean, to do what? Mine the eridium?"

"To be honest? I don't know. There's still plenty of eridium left and Hyperion wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. That's incentive enough." He sighs and says quietly, "God only knows what they'd do if they found out that I was here." He takes a sip of calming cool water and they both look back out over the city, thinking quietly to themselves._ "She's got something that she's not telling me,"_ he reckons. It wouldn't be the first time Maya held a secret from him. He was usually pretty good about keeping his thoughts in check, but, between the two of them, she could usually pry information out of the commando. An uncomfortable silence lays thick around them and they watch the people in the streets go about their business. Sometimes he wishes he could be like them. Never having to worry about the big picture, only looking out for himself.

The quiet becomes almost unbearable before Maya finally breaks the tension. "I'm sorry for pressing you about your dream," she says quietly. "I know how real they must feel."

Again, Axton can tell that she is hiding something. He moves closer to her and places a reassuring hand on her arm. "Don't worry. I'm fine Maya. It feels good to get it off my chest. I'm glad your here, darlin'." Their eyes meet and Axton feels her soft hand slide over his rough one. This time the silence is welcoming. All of Axton's worries melt away as he slowly moves closer to her, only able to think of her sapphire eyes and what troubles lay behind them. Her soft lips move closer, and closer until-

"Ahem!"

Both pairs of hands immediately fall to their sides and they quickly separate. Embarrassed, Axton rubs his neck and notices Maya blushing furiously. "Oh, hey Gaige. I, uh,..thought you were asleep..still," she stutters.

Gaige is wearing an oversized shirt and standing with her hands on her hips. She shakes her head, making her red pigtails bounce. "Nope. I woke up to get a drink and couldn't help but notice that you two were out here about to get all mushy gushy on each other," she says, giving them both a devilish look. The redhead walks over and grabs Maya's arm as if to escort her back into the apartment. "Don't you two know how late it is? We have to get up early to go to kick some Hyperion butt! You can't do that on half a night's sleep." She pulls her friend towards the door giggling to herself. Maya manages to get in a quick 'Goodnight' before she's pulled through the sliding glass door. Leaving the commando standing there confused.

He sighs and walks back inside. "Always gotta be sumthin'," he grumbles. A sweet dreamless sleep meets him as soon as his head hits the pillow.


	3. Chapter 2: Rude Awakenings

First off, Gearbox and 2K studios own Borderlands and I have absolutely NO claim to the title or the characters of Borderlands. I just thought I would put my own twist on characters and events. I hope you enjoy it.

Ok another chapter with more dialogue blah, blah, blah. I put some humor in this chapter among other things, but I promise the next chapter will be full of action. Also sorry for the cliffhanger and if there are any spelling/grammar mistakes then sorry, I'm sure I'll find them eventually.

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_**Chapter 2: Rude Awakenings**_

An alarm sounds, bringing the comatose commando to a groggy state of awareness. Axton had slept hard, and on his stomach no less. _"Great, now my back hurts,"_ he groans while rolling to his side as the artificial lights begin to brighten. There's the faint sound of water running in the background. His eyes flutter open and are momentarily blinded by the light, causing him to wince and turn his head._ "Another morning, another headache,"_ he thinks, rubbing his eyes. A shadow moves and stops in front of him. _"That's weird. Why do I have the distinct feeling that I'm being watched?"_ His hand slides to the magnum repeater under his pillow and he slowly opens his eyes.

"Son-of-a-!" Axton rolls off the other side of the bed and raises his pistol from a kneeling position. Hovering over the side of the bed where he was sleeping is a tall, slim, black armored figure with a sword raised, ready to strike. The opaque visor on the helmet identifies the man easily making Axton's temper flare. "What the hell man!? I nearly shot you just now!" The man doesn't move. "Zero! Hello?" Not even a twitch. Annoyed, Axton walks around the bed, cautiously, and pokes him; his finger goes right through and the man flickers out of existence. _"Wait a second..."_

"Good morning."

He visibly jumps at the metallic voice directly behind him. "Ah, dammit! I knew that would happen," he says and turns around to find Zero laughing, actually laughing, with a red smiley emoticon hovering over his visor. The pistol gets tossed on the bed and Axton crosses his arms. He takes several deep breathes to calm himself before asking, "Why the hell do I wake up to find an assassin ready to cut me in half this morning?" The irritation on his face makes the laughter reside to a chuckle and finally a 'HA HA' emote. Axton had to admit, it was funny, however, the humor was lost on him at the moment. "And why were you using my bathroom?"

Zero regains his composure. "Lilith told me/Awaken the others/We have a briefing," he informs Axton with his usual poetic speech. He clears his throat, which sounds strange with the metallic edge to it. "Also, I had to go."

"So that's how you wake people up?" Axton gestures. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. I almost put a whole clip into your hologram, man. You could've at least woken me up like-"

Zero raises his hand to cut him off. "But a simple prank/Easy revenge for me/After what you tried to do." He points to his visor.

"Wait...What did I do?" Zero just crosses his arms.

"You're not still mad about...Oh come on. You never take that mask off!" His anger is gone now, replaced by defensiveness. "You had to have known me and Maya would try it eventually."

Now it's Zero's turn to be upset. "I suspected it/But not at that moment/I was-"

"Hung over?" The sight of a '_' emote makes him chuckle. "I wish I could've seen the look on your face," he says, "Of course, that was the whole point."

"I was...at a disadvantage. I shouldn't have drank the rakkale.." He shifts his feet and looks at the floor. The uneasiness is apparent in his voice. Over the past couple of years Axton has known him, Zero has only been this uncomfortable four times: once when Moxxi flirted with him relentlessly, twice when he's gotten hammered, and once when they kept trying to catch him eating or drinking; they had never actually seen him do either.

"There it is again. You didn't speak in Haiku when you were drunk either. Don't make it a habit," Axton jokes. "By the way you never did tell me how you broke Maya's phaselock."

"That, I will never tell." Zero starts to leave as Axton gathers up a towel and goes to take a shower. He calls after the assassin, "By the way! Since Maya was in on it too, that means you have to pay her back!"

There's a pause, then he hears, "Challenge accepted."

_"Oh shit, this is gonna be good. I can't wait." _Axton strips down and turns on the water, but just as soon as he steps into the shower, he hears it.

A blood curdling scream erupts from the apartment next door. Axton doesn't even think as he launches himself from the shower, snatches up his towel, and runs- dashing out of his apartment and down the hall to investigate. He certainly didn't expect it to happen this soon.

"What the..!? Aarrgh! Zero!" Maya screams.

_"Damn, I'm in for it now."_ he reckons, while grinning to himself. The door is wide open and he walks in to see Zero just outside the bedroom. He's doubled over in laughter, which wouldn't be odd, if it wasn't so rare to see. Zero looks up and, upon seeing Axton, erupts into another laughing fit. He barely manages to jerk his thumb towards the bedroom.

The scene in Maya's room takes the commando completely by surprise. He steps in the doorway and asks, "What the hell is goin on in-" but he's cut off at the sight of a distraught Maya- blue hair in a sodden mess and naked except for a towel clutched to her torso- yelling and stomping that it's not funny, while Gaige just rolls around on the bed in hysterics. Another hologram stands facing of the bathroom with its sword raised over its head.

Axton can't believe it. Involuntary chuckles begin to escape and Maya notices him for the first time. His eyes glide up and down the length of her, noticing how the towel fails to cover her ample chest. In his mind he notes how her supple curves blend seamlessly with her leanness; how even with her hair in a mess and no makeup, her beauty is enough to make him melt.

The siren hurriedly covers herself as if her life depends on it. "Geez...Doesn't anyone ever knock..?" she says, pale cheeks flushing a deep red. That is when she REALLY notices him.

"W-Woah,...h-hey uh,..hey, ya A-Axton," she manages to stutter. Maya's eyes go big and her face blushes more intensely.

"Wow." Gaige is sitting up, wearing nothing but her underwear. Her eyes are now as big as Maya's. The look of pure surprise on both their face causes the gawking man to notice something. No one is laughing now except Zero who, at the moment, sounds like he's dying.

Both women are openly staring at him and he notices Maya's gaze is slowing looking him over and she bites her lip. "Ummm...You do know that...Yeah." Axton is standing in the doorway nude with a towel, except, the towel is hanging uselessly at his side. Unfortunately, the sight of the blue haired goddess in front of him has caused a slight hardness to take effect. _"Ah, shit man- the towel!" _The sudden realization of his current situation hits him like a brick wall; he whips the towel around to cover himself so fast that he nearly drops it. Now it's his turn to blush and stammer.

"So uh,...as I'm sure you both know, uh...Lilith wants us in the briefing room," he can barely stammer out his lame excuse for being there. The usually stoic commando is beyond uncomfortable as he tries to find anywhere to look but her. "But I um,...heard a scream so I uh,...figured I would come and check you out," he clears his throat,"I mean check on you,..no, with you...no, I mean.." Axton quickly backs away. "You know what, I'm just gonna go." The newly embarrassed commando rushes out of the apartment, head spinning, before Maya can phaselock him.

Twenty minutes later he arrives at headquarters and bumps right into Patricia Tannis, who had refused to move her lab from the first floor after the upgrades to the building. The vial she is carrying shatters to the floor.

"Oh! Does anyone besides me have eyes?" She rolls her eyes before blushing at who it is. "J-just w-watch where you're going you b-big brute," with that, she turns on her heel and walks away quickly. _"Great._ _Gaige has been talking." _he sighs heavily at the thought. For all of Gaige's genius, she loved to gossip. If the crazy scientist knows about it and it hasn't even been half-a-hour yet then, by now, the mechromancer has told just about everyone. Axton liked the little redhead sure but she was like a little sister to him. _"Wait, no, don't put it like that," _He grimaces at the thought of someone he views as a sister having stared at his junk._ "I mean she's cute, but...No man, just no."_ After a few minutes of mentally bracing himself, Axton's face settles into the emotionless stonewall that he's used to wearing and he walks up the stairs.

Maya sits on the dilapidated couch wishing she could be like Zero and turn invisible. Gaige had gotten to the briefing room a few minutes before her and, by the time Maya walked in, she could tell that everyone: Brick, Mordecai, Lilith, and even Krieg knew about this morning AND last night. Salvador, thankfully, was still at Moxxi's bar so he didn't know. _"Gee, I can't wait till Salvador finds out," _she sarcastically considers.

The memory of Axton standing naked in her bedroom, for some reason, wouldn't go away. Just the thought of it made her head spin and she couldn't think straight. The look on his face once he realized his situation was priceless, she had never seen him so nervous-not even in battle. Thinking about that reminds her of how she feels now. Having Axton walk in and see her naked was one thing, but now she was surrounded by her snickering friends.

There had been about five minutes of awkward silence after she had sat down in the briefing room. Everyone had kept casting looks and snickering at her, as she sat on the worn out couch. Eventually she couldn't take all of the idiotic smirks and glances directed at her anymore. "Jesus! What the hell is so funny?" she blurted. As soon as the question passed her lips she was bombarded with harassing jokes and questions. Most of them could be answered with a forced yes or no until Lilith, the leader of the Crimson Raiders, lost her professional composure and asked, "So, killer. Did ya enjoy the view?" She raised her eyebrow with a devilish smirk on her face. Maya just turned her head and blushed with embarrassment, which caused everyone to laugh-even Krieg was laughing, spinning around in a computer chair. She caught sight of Gaige at one of the computers and glared at her. Zero had thankfully disappeared to avoid questioning. His hologram stood in the corner with its arms crossed and a ':/' emote over the visor; she guessed that he didn't approve.

Maya is brought out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps slowly coming up the stairs. _"Oh, damn."_ Krieg starts to giggle loudly again until he catches a glare from Maya, which promptly makes him stop.

"Okay, we've all had our laughs now," Lilith says, "so don't say anything to Axton. We're supposed to be professional here." Her comment earns a snort from Mordecai. The redheaded siren shuts him up with a stern look.

As Axton walks in the room, you can practically see the tension hovering in the room. Gaige's attention is fixated on him and she can't help but give him a once over herself; remembering how he looked this morning. She can see that he has the old military 'stonewall' expression on his face and mentally sighs with relief. _"Good, he isn't going to fold under their crap," _she hopes. He stalls at the briefing table and glances around the room as Brick makes his way to him. The siren groans.

"Heya' slab!" the big man booms; bringing a huge hand down on Axton's shoulder and nearly knocking him to the floor.

"Oof!" Axton takes a second to recover from the blow before replying, "Hey Brick how're you?" His face remains stoic while Brick barely holds a big grin back.

"Oh, I'm pretty good I guess. I'm just glad to see my favorite slab is finally here. What took so long? Have trouble this morning?" The giant tightens his grip on Axton, who is currently holding back his irritation, and smiles a big toothy grin. Lilith is currently laughing into her hand, apparently forgoing her words of professionalism.

"H-hey t-tough guy!" Lilith barely manages through suppressed giggling. Both Maya and Axton audibly sigh at her chortling. "H-how's it ha-hangin' today?" She can no longer hold it in and busts out laughing at her own question.

Maya watches as Axton's jaw tightens with annoyance. He manages in a calm yet forced voice, "No, no trouble this morning. Just got held up is all. I found Sal' at Moxxi's earlier, drunk again."

Mordecai, obviously a little drunk himself, laughs while standing by Lilith. "Yeah, I...I already told Lil' about that. Poor bastards still tore up about how his hometown got wiped out." He sobers up for a moment, then the grin creeps back. "What I wanna know amigo. Is why you didn't even need a rakkale or two before you were runnin' up to the girls all-" he finishes by making a running motion and flopping his forearm around in front of his pelvis. The act causes the room to, once again, die with laughter. "Oh my god. If I could just die of embarrassment." Maya mumbles. Mordecai's joke causes Axton's face to turn red with embarassment.

Brick gently shoves Axton to the couch to sit as he moves to stand over the briefing map. Maya can't even look at the commando as he sits down, seemingly as far from her as he can. The awkwardness is palpable between them. Stealing a glance at him, she notices he seems intent on staring straight ahead. Gaige giggles again from her computer and gets shot down with glares from both of them. Zero walks in and looks around the room, shaking his head before taking the hologram's place in the corner by the door.

A holographic map rises from the upgraded mission briefing table and everyone looks at Lilith expectantly. It's a map of the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve with several points highlighted in red and yellow. Maya has been through there a couple times herself- it always has very heavy security. A bout of curiosity enters her mind as she wonders if they were going to go ahead and take it out like Lilith always talks about. Big monitors positioned over the map on the briefing table flickered on to show surveillance footage of the Preserve.

The monitors are a reminder of how much new equipment they had gotten over the years. For instance, all the old monitors were sold off and replaced by re-purposed screens from a Hyperion outpost. These new screens are more advanced and designed specifically for analyzing surveillance footage. What's on screen could easily be transferred to the briefing table to be shown in holographic format.

Maya remembers when the table had been upgraded by Gaige so that all holograms could be easily manipulated from a set of on-screen controls and also by hand. It took everyone forever to stop talking about how awesome the improvements were. Once or twice, they caught Gaige and Zero playing some shooter games which, much to his frustration, Zero would always lose. The other change was to the computers behind the table which had also been replaced and upgraded-looted from Hyperion facilities- much to Gaige's satisfaction.

_ "I guess Hyperions good for something,"_ she thinks.

With a swipe of her finger, Lilith pulls a surveillance feed down from one of the monitors-turning it into a hologram. It depicts several advanced looking Hyperion loaders making the rounds at the main gate.

"Now that we've all had our laugh at these two's expense," she motions towards Axton and Maya, "We can get on with our briefing." "As you can see Hyperion has increased their presence at the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve. Part of the new defenses at the site included some of these guys." Lilith spreads her hands over the video, causing one of the loaders freeze and enlarge to stand three feet tall over the table.

"I'll never get used to that," Mordecai says.

"Yeah, well good thing I'm Awesome! Otherwise we wouldn't have any of this sweet tech," Gaige compliments herself.

Lilith smirks at her comment. "These loaders are more badass than the ones we've seen before. They combine the traits of three different loaders into one."

"Ha! They don't look like nothin' I can't crush." Brick points out.

"Maybe, but you might want a gun for this mission, Brick." She swipes her hand across and some stats appear next to it. "From what I've gathered they have: a fixed belt-fed spinigun with an extreme rate of fire; a projectile deflecting prop on the right hand, and a multi-barrel belt-fed rpg that's mounted on the right shoulder." Armaments separated and listed stats as she talked.

"Looks like some pretty heavy damage shit." Axton says. He points to its back, "I take it that hardened case on the back is where the ammo is stored," he points out.

The mechromancer chimes in, "Yes. I've done some digging in Hyperion's data network and apparently they're just big ammuniton storage decks. They can digi-struct enough ammo so that they don't have to stop firing until those guns overheat. It's a lot like your turret." She pulls out a touchpad and uses it to zoom in on the case. "The whole loader has heavily upgraded armor, but the storage deck is its weak spot." Smiling to herself she adds, "Also, hitting the loaders with enough elemental shock damage should short out their ammunition supply for a second or two. Once we get in there and start to fight them I'll be able to provide more intel.

"Good. I'll have to do a quick mod to my turret before we go."

"If that's not enough I can always phaselock them," Maya says.

The hologram of the loader dissipates. "Those loaders aren't the only problem though." Lilith pulls up footage of a new type of Hyperion personnel. "These badasses are like an upgraded combat engineer. They have a stronger exo-suit and are dressed in armor that is similar to a soldier's, but stronger." The hologram of one of the soldier-engineers enlarged and they could see the exo-suit was more form-fitting and is combined with large contoured armor plating. "We'll have to keep an eye on these bastards. They're faster, jumpier, and slightly smarter than your average Hyperion jackass."

"Good thing you've got me and Deathtrap to even the odds then." Gaige is bouncing in her seat, eager to finally do something in the field.

"I'll grind their bones for the blood feast!" yells Krieg. "Arrgh. Sorry. Need to kill yellow meat-bags."

Lilith just brings up the map, shaking her head. "Sorry to say Krieg but you won't be going on this trip. Neither will you," she points at Gaige. Irritated whines can be heard from both. "I need you, Gaige to stay here at headquarters and keep everyone updated with intel."

The redhead huffs disappointedly. "You mean that I have to stay back here and play ECHO girl AGAIN?"

Axton snorts a laugh and Maya smiles to herself at the comment. The wink she receives from Lilith tells her that it's not just a matter of convenience to have Gaige stay behind._ "Thank you Lil'. Thank you!"_ she thinks.

"Yes. You'll get to go out next time I promise, but right now I need your help to provide tactical support. Which leads me to you, Krieg. You will be helping with the defense of Opportunity. I got a report that a bunch of Hyperion goons are going to try to take it back from us. I'll have to brief you about that later."

"Ahaha! I'll put my pain in their souls."

They all start to laugh and Lilith clears her throat. "So, now. If we can wrap this up.." Everyone's eyes move to her. "Mordecai and I have decided that it is best to not only knock Hyperion out of the Preserve, but take it for ourselves. It will become the secondary Crimson Raiders headquarters and double as a research facility."

"What would we want with a research facility?" Brick asks.

"A lot of things actually. I've already told Tannis that she'll have a lab of her own once we get everything fixed up."

Mordecai laughs. "Yeah and, for a second, she was so hyped up about it that she forgot about her ceiling chairs. Think of it this way amigo. If we pull this off, get the animals released, get everything fixed up, and get some of those ex-Hyperion guys out there- we could actually design and make our own shit. We might even make our own weapons."

Brick looks from one friend to the other before saying, "Hell yeah, count me in. So what's the plan?"

"The plan is pretty straightforward. Everyone except Krieg, Gaige, Sal', and myself will be in on it. There will be explosions, expert maneuvers and plenty of shooting. So everyone pay attention. This is how it's all going to go down..."


End file.
